University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


fir    , 


-j     f 


LYRICS  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 


LYRICS 
OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

BY 

WILLIAM   STANLEY  BRAITHWAITE 


BOSTON 
HERBERT  B.  TURNER  &  CO. 

1904 


Copyright  1904  By 
HERBERT  B.  TURNER  &  COMPANY 

Published  September  1904 


T~1OR   permission  to  reprint  several  pieces 
in  this  volume  acknowledgment  is  due  to 
the  Christian  Endeavor  Herald,  National 
Magazine,  Colored  American  Magazine,  How- 
ard Spectator,  and  others. 


CONTENTS 

RHAPSODY 13 

OUT    OF    THE    SILENCE    OF    MY    DREAMS       ...  14 

DIVIDED 15 

TO    A    PERSIAN    ROSE,  TO    E.   A.   B l6,    17 

A    DREAM    AND    A    SONG,  TO    B.  V.  T.           .        .        .  18 

TWO    QUESTIONS 19 

A    LITTLE    SONG,  TO    T.   E.    S 20 

JAMES    RUSSELL    LOWELL 21 

IF    I    COULD    TOUCH 22 

EVENING 23,  24 

A    LEAVE-TAKING,  I 25 

A    LEAVE-TAKING,  II 26 

KEATS    WAS    AN    UNBELIEVER 27 

THE    WATCHERS 28 

IN    A    GRAVE-YARD 29 

THE    LAND    OF    HOPE-TO-BE 30 

A    CITY    GARDEN 31 

SEA    LYRIC 32 

DISTANCES 33 

SONG 34 

AN    OLD    DREAM 35 

LOVE    IS    A    STAR 36 

ON  A  PRESSED    FLOWER   IN   MY  COPY  OF  KEATS       .  37 

WHEN    TWILIGHT    COMES    WITH    DREAMS      ...  38 

THE    DEPARTURE    OF    PIERROTT 3$,   40 

LOUISBERG    SQUARE 41 

APRIL 42 

OUT  OF  THE  SUNSET'S  RED 43 

TWILIGHT  AND  DREAMS 44 

LOVE'S  WAYFARING 45,  46 

SHE  SLEEPS  BENEATH  THE  WINTER  SNOW    .      .  47 
LYRIC  :     WHEN  THE  STILL  SOMBRE  EVENING 

CLOSES  DOWN 48,  49 


CONTENTS  —  (Continued) 

CHILD  ELSIE 50 

A  SEA-PRAYER 51 

IT  WERE  AS  IF  THIS  WORLD  WERE  PARADISE  52 

YULE-SONG  :     A  MEMORY 53 

VOICE  OF  THE  SEA 54 

APRIL'S  DREAM 55 

ON    MUSIC 56 

SONG 57 

A    LYRIC    OF   AUTUMN 58 

MOTHERHOOD 59 

TO    W.   A.  W.  AND    H.   H.   ON  THEIR  DEPARTURE 

TO    EUROPE 60 

THANKSGIVING 6l 

LIFE    AND    DEATH 62 

HOLLY    BERRY   AND    MISTLETOE 63 

WHEN    I    BID    YOU    GOOD-BYE    AND    GO         ...  64 

HEART-SONG 65 

BY    AN    INLAND    LAKE 66 

SONG 67 

SONG  :       TO-NIGHT  THE  STARS  ARE  WOOING.,  LOVE  68 

TO-NIGHT    ACROSS    THE    SEA 69 

A    MEMORY 70 

AFTER    HARVEST 71 

IT'S    A    LONG    WAY 72 

I    BLOW    YOU    A    KISS 73 

SEA-VOICES 74 

TO    75 

IN  MY  LADY'S  PRAISE 76 

NEAR  THE  END  OF  APRIL 77 

HYMN  FOR  THE  SLAIN  IN  BATTLE      ....  78 

A  SUMMER  NIGHT'S  ENCHANTMENT     ....  79 

IN  THE  HIGH  HILLS                                   ...  80 


TO    MY    MOTHER 


LYRICS  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 


RHAPSODY 

I   AM  glad  daylong  for  the  gift  of  song, 
For  time  and  change  and  sorrow; 
For  the  sunset  wings  and  the  world-end  things 

Which  hang  on  the  edge  of  to-morrow. 
I  am  glad  for  my  heart  whose  gates  apart 

Are  the  entrance-place  of  wonders, 
Where  dreams  come  in  from  the  rush  and  din 
Like  sheep  from  the  rains  and  thunders. 


[13] 


OUT  OF  THE  SILENCE  OF  MY  DREAMS 

I   HEAR  a  voice  that  speaks  to  me 
Out  of  the  silence  of  my  dreams ; 
Somewhere  from  long  eternity 

Where  the  first  white  dawn  gleams. 

Night  and  the  stars,  day  and  the  sun, 
Winds  and  the  trumpets  of  mid-seas, 

All  in  one  common  key  they  run 
Through  deathless  melodies. 

Take  this,  my  answer  for  all  time  — 
Yea,  to  his  speech,  to  his  command ; 

Surrendering  all  life  of  mine 
Unto  his  heart  and  hand. 


DIVIDED 

5  fin  IS  strange  that  we  should  fall  apart 
A         And  live  divided  nights  and  days! 

What  loneliness  crowds  on  the  heart, 
What  vacancy  in  eyes  that  gaze. 

Oh !  if  there  were  a  little  child, 

Whose  innocence  had  made  it  wise, 

Remembrance  would  have  reconciled 
Its  father's  face,  its  mother's  eyes. 


[15] 


TO  A  PERSIAN  ROSE 
To  E.  A.  B. 

IN  the  world's  garden  close, 
Where  a  wild  Eden  blows, 
Where  the  earth's  treasury 
Hoards  by  the  Arat  sea, 
You  grew,  a  rose. 

In  the  flushed  lyric  dawn, 
Poignant  with  scented  heat, 
Gold  dew  you  fed  upon, 
Gleaming  like  crystals  —  sweet 
Stars  of  the  lawn. 

From  all  the  islands  blent, 
One  thousand  essences, 
Odors  of  ravishment 
Culled  from  the  Eastern  seas 
Filled  you  with  scent. 

All  the  East's  lavishness 
Dowered  and  nurtured  you, 
Till  past  all  loveliness 
That  the  East  ever  knew, 
Regal  you  grew. 


[16] 


One  June  in  Maenad-mirth 
The  great  luxurious  Mother 
Gave  you  strange,  mystic  birth, — 
Such  as  she  gave  no  other  — 
You  child  of  earth. 

Np  unguent  was  too  precious 
For  the  high  gods  to  give ; 
No  passion  too  delicious 
Through  which  you  might  not  live. 
To  joy  and  grieve. 

Long  wanton  centuries  since, 
In  days  of  Rome  and  Tyre, 
Thou  mated  once  a  prince 
Of  a  great  Persian  sire 
For  Love's  desire. 

O  thou  wast  more  than  fair! 
Thou  Rose  of  Paradise  — 
In  lips,  and  cheeks,  and  hair, — 
All  beauty  wonder-wise 

'Neath  those  hot  skies. 


[17] 


A  DREAM  AND  A  SONG 
To  B.  V.  T. 

A  DREAM  comes  in  and  a  song  goes  forth; 
The  wind  is  south  and  the  sun  is  north  — 
The  daisies  run  on  the  dunes  to  the  sea, 
And  over  the  world  my  soul  goes  free. 

Ah,  over  the  world  to  sing  and  roam 
In  the  sun  and  wind  —  without  a  home 
Till  a  woman's  heart  shall  dream  and  say: 
"  O  song  of  the  dreamer  I  bid  you  stay 

And  sing  in  my  heart:  make  glad  my  feet 
To  run  as  the  winds  do,  soft  and  fleet 
Over  the  dunes  and  down  to  the  sea, 
Where  Love  came  home  in  a  dream  to  me." 


[18] 


TWO  QUESTIONS 

HEART  of  the  soft,  wild  rose 
Hid  in  a  forest  close 
Far  from  the  world  away, 
Sweet  for  a  night  and  day. 
Rose,  is  it  good  to  be  sweet, 
Sun   and  the  dews  to  greet? 

Life  that  is  mine  to  keep 
In  travail,  play  and  sleep 
Firm  on  a  tossing  ball, 
Drilled  to  march  at  a  call; 
Work,  love,  death  —  these  three  — 
Life,  is  there  more  for  me? 


[19] 


A  LITTLE  SONG 
To  T.  E.  S. 

A  LITTLE  song  ill  worth  your  while 
On  which  to  waste  more  than  a  smile, 
Alas,  I  sing,  for  love  is  long  — 
A  little  song. 

Though  life  be  brief  and  art  outlive 
What  joy  or  sorrow  earth  may  give, 
Time,  then,  might  let  the  years  prolong 
A  little  song. 

And  it  may  chance  your  face  will  turn 
Some  day,  the  singer  to  discern  — 
Yea,  smile  to  see  who  sang  so  long, 
A  little  song. 


[20] 


JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL 

STEEPT  in  the  Muses'  youthful,  sultry  maze, 
He  linkt  his  own  with  Shakespeare's  lucid 

days  — 

And  Camelot  came  to  Cambridge  in  his  heart, 
Where  Rosaline  met  ancient  Britomart. 


[21] 


IF  I  COULD  TOUCH 

IF  I  could  touch  your  hand  to-night 
And  hear  you  speak  one  little  word, 
I  then  might  understand  your  flight 
Up  the  star  steps,  unseen,  unheard. 

If  through  the  mists  of  gold  and  gray 
That  tint  the  weary  sunset  skies, 

There  shone  two  stars  across  the  bay 

That  thrilled  me  like  your  passionate  eyes- 

If  only  some  small  part  of  you 

Would  speak,  or  touch,  or  rise  in  sight, 

Death  would  be  then  between  us  two 
The  passing  of  a  summer's  night. 


EVENING 

AT  my   window  what  delight 
Here  to  sit  and  watch  the  night, 
Stealing  after  fleeting  day, 
Soft  and  quiet  all  the  way. 
Through  my  window  like  a  flute's 
Comes  the  robin's  dying  notes, 
While  above  me  dim  and  far 
Silent  breaks  the  evening  star. 

At  my  window  o'er  the  street, 
In   the  twilight  calm   and  sweet, 
From  dim  vistas  of  the  past 
Dreams  come  to  me  thick  and  fast; 
Some  are  clothed  in  bright  array, 
Phantoms  of  a  happier  day  — 
Some,  wan  spectral  shades  assume, 
Draped  in  anguished  hours  of  doom. 

This  brief  span  of  years  we  lease 
Gives  us  fewer  hours  of  peace 
Than  it  does  of  strife  and  toil  — 
Therefore  when   subsides  the  broil, 
Let  it  be  but  one  brief  hour, 
'Tis  a  providential  dower, 
Just  a  stop  upon  the  road 
Easing  us  of  life's  great  load. 
[23] 


So  to-night  is  one  of  those 

Blissful  times  of  blest  repose; 

And  in  unison  I  seem 

With  night's  universal  dream. 

All  is  quiet  near  and  far 

From  the  lily  to  the  star, 

And  my  soul  in  dreamy  ease 

Strikes  the  soothing  chords  of  peace. 


[24] 


A  LEAVE-TAKING,  I 

LET  there  be  one  word  more 
Before  you  go  — 
Some  sweet  old  thing 
Remembering, 
Alas  to  know  — 

Some  hope  you  fed,  some  look  you  gave, 
Dead  now  in  love's   deep   grave. 

So,  speak  —  and  then  depart, 

And  I  will  keep 

The  best  of  you  forever  in  my  heart. 

All  else  shall  sleep 

As  if  death  came  and  taught  them  to  forget. 

Only  the  best 

Of  you  shall  live  without  regret, 

Within  my  breast. 


[25] 


A  LEAVE-TAKING,  II 

YOUR  hand  in  mine  for  a  space, 
Through  a  brief  living  sigh ; 
The  red  rose  white  in  your  face, 
And  a  swift  good-bye. 

One  moment !  ah,  could  it  be 

Life's  veriest  depth  and  height ! 

The  death  of  my  soul  for  me  — 
And  you- — well,  the  red  rose  white. 


[26] 


KEATS  WAS  AN  UNBELIEVER 

"  Keats  was  not  a  believer  " 

—  Biographical  Sketch 

4  i  ~VT  EATS    was    an    unbeliever,"  -  —  so    they 

-IV.      read. 

The  critic's  words  defame  the  poet's  soul ; 

Nature  and  Life  as  one  stupendous  whole 
He  traced  to  the  source.  Thereof  a  Fountain- 
head  : 
His  worship  was  where  light  enshrined  the  head 

Of  Beauty :  —  for  true  love  and  wisdom  stole 

From  God  to  man  within  her  aureole, 
And  God's  elect  but  followed  where  she  lead. 

Of  God's  elect  was  Keats :  his  earthly  duty 
To  sing  again  the  music  of  creation ; 

That  first  of  all,  God's  dream  of  life  was  Beauty  ; 
That  Beauty  is  the  seed  of  all  salvation  :  — 

Holiest  of  all  unbelievers,  thus, 

He  made  "  Believing  "  possible  for  us. 


[27] 


THE  WATCHERS 

TWO  women  on  the  lone  wet  strand 
(The  wind's  out  with  a  will  to  roam) 
The  waves  wage  war  on  rocks  and  sand, 
(And  a  ship  is  long  due  home.) 

The  sea  sprays  in  the  women's  eyes  — 

(Hearts  can  writhe  like  the  sea's  wild 'foam) 

Lower  descend  the  tempestuous  skies, 

(For  the  wind's  out  with  a  will  to  roam.) 

*'  O  daughter,  thine  eyes  be  better  than  mine," 
(The  waves  ascend  high  as  yonder  dome) 

"  North  or  south  is  there  never  a  sign  ? " 
(And  a  ship  is  long  due  home.) 

They  watched  there  all  the  long  night  through  — 
(The  wind's  out  with  a  will  to  roam) 

Wind  and   rain   and   sorrow  for  two, — 
(And  heaven  on  the  long  reach  home.) 


[28] 


IN  A  GRAVE-YARD 

IN  calm  fellowship  they  sleep 
Where  the  graves  are  dark  and  deep, 
Where  nor  hate  nor  fraud  nor  feud 
Mar  their  perfect  brotherhood. 

After  all  was  done  they  went 
Into  dreamless  sleep,  content, 
That  the  years  would  pass  them  by, 
Sightless,  soundless,  where  they  lie. 

Wines  and  roses,  song  and  dance, 
Have  no  portion  in  their  trance  — 
The  four  seasons  are  as  one, 
Dark  of  night,  and  light  of  sun. 


[29] 


THE  LAND  OF  HOPE -TO -BE 

fTlHERE'S  a  way  to  happiness 

A       Up  the  road  of  Dreams, 
Where  my  soul  goes  wayfaring 
By  the  sleepy  streams. 

Heart  that  sends  your  memories 

In  the  shape  of  song, 
To  the  land  of  Hope-to-Be, 

Is  the  journey  long? 

Nay,  companion  of  my  house, 

In  the  longest  flight, 
Distance  in  desire  is  drowned 

As  the  day  in  night. 

Heart  and  soul  go  wayfaring 
Up  the  road  of  Dreams, 

To  the  land  of  Hope-to-Be 
By  the  sleepy  streams. 


[30] 


A  CITY  GARDEN 

HID  in  a  close  and  lowly  nook 
In  a  city  yard  where  no  grass  grows  — 
Wherein  nor  sun,  nor  stars  may  look 

Full-faced,  • —  are  planted  three  short  rows 
Of  pansies,  geraniums,  and  a  rose. 

A  little  girl  with  quiet,  wide  eyes, 
Slender  figured,  in  tattered  gown, 

Whose  pallored  face  no  country  skies 
Have  quickened  to  a  healthy  brown, 
Made  this  garden  in  the  barren  town. 

Poor  little  flowers,  your  life  is  hard : 
No  sun,  nor  wind,  nor  evening  dew. 

Poor  little  maid,  whose  city  yard 

Is  a  world  of  happy  dreams  to  you  — 

God  grant  some  day  your  dreams  come  true. 


[81] 


SEA  LYRIC 

OVER  the  seas  to-night,  love, 
Over  the  darksome  deeps, 
Over  the  seas  to-night,  love, 

Slowly  my  vessel  creeps. 
Over  the  seas  to-night,  love, 

Waking  the  sleeping  foam  — 
Sailing  away  from  thee,  love, 

Sailing  from  thee  and  home. 
Over  the  seas  to-night,  love, 

Dreaming  beneath  the  spars  — 
Till  in  my  dreams  you  shine,  love, 

Bright  as  the  listening  stars. 


[32] 


DISTANCES 

JUST  where  that  star  above 
Shines  with  a  cold,  dispassionate  smile 
If  in  the  flesh  I'd  travel  there, 
How  many,   many   a  mile ! 

If  this,  my  soul,  should  be 

Unprisoned  from  its  earthly  bond, 
Time  could  not  count  its  markless  flight 

Beyond  that  star,  beyond! 


[33] 


SONG 

UP  and  down  the  beach  I  wander 
Here  to-night  beside  the  sea, 
In  my  ears  the  ocean-thunder, 
In  my  heart  the  dreams  of  thee. 

The  sea,  the  sea  is  high,  love, 
Dark,  dark,  O  dark,  the  sky,  love, 
And  sad  is  my  heart. 

In  thy  outward  journey  passing 

Through  the  narrow  gates  of  night, 
Was  there  travail  in  the  massing 
Of  the  waters  void  of  light? 

O  the  sea,  the  sea  is  high,  love, 
Swift  surge  the  waters  by,  love, 
And  sad  is  my  heart. 


AN  OLD  DREAM 

YOU  sang  that  song  beside  an  olden  sea, 
In  some  low  dream,  some  hundred  years 

ago; 

The  time,  the  place  is  all  unknown  to  me- 
lt is  the  feeling  in  my  heart  I  know. 
We  were  two  Grecians  then,  I  do  believe, 

And  caught  a  dream  some  fair  god's  passion 

sighed ; 
Time    wandered    far,    and    left    our    hearts    to 

grieve  — 

But  somewhere  Love  lived  on,  though  all  else 
died. 

Dear,  as  you  sing,  it  all  comes  back  to  me ; 

The    mood,    though    filled    with    centuries    of 

strife 
Is  the  same  ecstasy ;  only  the  sea 

Seems  grown  a  little  weary  of  its  life. 
No  change  has  come  unto  your  voice  and  heart, 

No  shadow  on  your  face ;  and  in  your  eyes  — 
Though    Time   has    kept    them    from    my    eyes 
apart  — 

The  rapture  of  sea-dreams  and  memories. 


[35] 


LOVE  IS  A  STAR 

THIS  is  the  song  I  sing  for  you, 
Out  of  my  heart  the  melodies  rise  — 
Life  is  long  for  the  brave  and  true, 
Love  is  a  star  to  your  faithful  eyes. 

This  is  the  dream  your  heart  must  hold 
One  in  the  world  is  faithful  still  — 

Here  is  warmth  from  the  wind  and  cold, 
Here  is  rest  from  the  sea  and  hill. 


[36] 


ON  A  PRESSED  FLOWER  IN  MY 
COPY  OF  KEATS 

AS  Keats'  old  honeyed  volume  of  romance 
I  oped  to-day  to  drink  its  Latmos  air, 
I  found  all  pressed  a  white  flower  lying  where 
The  shepherd  lad  watched  Pan's  herd  slow  ad- 
vance. 

Ah,  then  what  tender  memories  did  chance 
To  bring  again  the  day,  when  from  your  hair, 
This  frail  carnation,  delicate  and  fair, 
You  gave  me,  that  I  now  might  taste  its  trance. 
And  so  to-day  it  brings  a  mellow  dream 
Of  that  sweet  time  when  but  to  hear  you  speak 
Filled  all  my  soul.  What  waves  of  passion  seem 
About  this  flower  to  linger  and  to  break, 
Lit  by  the  glamor  of  the  moon's  pale  beam 
The  while  my  heart  weeps  for  this  dear  flower's 
sake. 


[37] 


WHEN  TWILIGHT  COMES  WITH  DREAMS 

OLET  the  music  play  a  little  longer, 
And  sweetheart  clasp  me  closer  to  your 

breast. 

Life  is  strong,  and  death ;  but  love  is  stronger  — 
And  sweeter,  sweeter,  rest. 

Oh,  sweet  is  rest  when  love  is  watching  over, 
And  twlight  comes  with  dreams  that  reassure ; 

Weaving  out  of  the  silences  that  hover 
Hopes  which  must  endure. 


[38] 


THE  DEPARTURE  OF  PIERROTT 

WE  have  housed,  my  Columbine, 
With  our  songs  and  books  and  dreams, 
Quiet  and  content  it  seems 
Through  the  winter's  cloud  and  shine. 

In  our  little  attic  room 

Looking  o'er  the  city  square, 

Quite  outside  the  world  of  care, 
All  unaltered  by  its  gloom,  — 

Thou  and  I,  my  Columbine, 

Let  the  world  of  men  below 

Unacquainted  come  and  go, 
In  secludedness  divine. 

Ah,  those  nights,  so  long,  were  sweet, 

And  we  shall  not  soon  forget 

Love  songs  sung  in  a  duet, 
Far  above  the  city  street. 

And  the  company  'twas  ours 

To  abide  in  —  Tennyson, 

Shelley,  Keats,  and  Emerson  — 
Joyed  us  in  those  winter  hours. 


[39] 


So,  my  Columbine,  together 

We  lived  the  long  season  through 

Till  March  came,  whose  wild  winds  blew 

Us  to  days  of  April  weather. 

All  the  first  sweet  dreams  of  Spring 

Born  again  of  new  desires, 

In  me  light  unquenching  fires 
To  be  up  and  wandering. 

Newer  hopes  have  won  my  trust  — 

I  but  answer  to  the  call, 

April  smiling  over  all 
Fills  my  soul  with  wander-lust. 

There  is  magic  in  the  stir 

When  our  mother  April  wakes ; 
Some  wild  riot  in  me  breaks 

When  I  feel  the  pulse  of  her. 

On  the  slowly  greening  slopes 
Something  in  the  hanging  haze, 
Luring,  leads  my  tramping  ways 

On  a  quest  for  April  Hopes. 

Nature  keeps  an  open  house, 

I  am  bidden  to  her  board; 

And  she  fills  me  from  her  hoard 
Where  the  sons  of  earth  carouse. 

[40] 


LOUISBERG  SQUARE 

A  QUIET  little  space,  set  in 
Upon  the  sloping  hillside,  where 
Comes  not  the  sound  of  traffic's  din 
To  fill  the  air. 

The  stately  houses  on  each  side, 

The  little  park  which  lies  between  — 
How  in  seclusion,  all  abides 
A  quiet  dream. 


[41] 


APRIL 

AT  morn  when  light  mine  eyes  unsealed 
I  gazed  upon  the  open  field; 
The  rain  had  fallen  in  the  night  — 
The  landscape  in  the  new  day's  light 
A  countenance  of  grace  revealed 
Upon  the  meadow,  wood  and  height. 

The  sun's  light  was  a  smile  of  gold, 

Ere  shut  by  sudden  fold  on  fold 

Of  surging,  showering  clouds  from  view; 

No  sooner  hid  than  it  broke  through 

A  tearful  smile  upon  the  wold 

Where  earth  reflected  heaven's  blue. 

Each  separate  divided  part 

Of  day,  was  as  the  threefold  art 

Of  God,  who  dreamed  three  dreams  and  made 

The  morning,  noon,  and  night  parade 

In  ever  changing  guise  athwart 

The  day's  hours,  in  His  dreams  arrayed. 

The  sky  was  as  a  canvas  spun 

To  paint  the  new  spring's  nocturns  on  ; 

A  blended  melody  of  tints  — 

The  sea's  hue,  and  the  myriad  hints 

Of  garden-closes,  when  the  sun 

Hath  stamped  the  work  of  nature's  mints. 

[42] 


OUT  OF  THE  SUNSET'S  RED 

OUT  of  the  sunset's  red 
Into  the  blushing  sea, 
The  winds  of  day  drop  dead 

And  dreams  come  home  to  me.  - 
The  sea  is  still,  —  and  apart 
Is  a  stillness  in  my  heart. 

The  night   comes   up  the   beach, 
The  dark  steals  over  all, 

Though  silence  has  no  speech 
I  hear  the  sea-dreams  call 

To  my  heart ;  —  and  in  reply 

It  answers  with  a  sigh. 


[43] 


TWILIGHT  AND  DREAMS 

AT  the  outer  edge  of  the  world, 
Where  the  long  grey  mists  arise, 
Between  the  sunset  and  the  sea 
I  gaze  with  longing  eyes. 

O  the  twilight  and  dreams  for  me, 
And  the  things  my  fancy  paints  — 

My  hopes  the  light  upon  the  sea 
Which  slowly  faints  and  faints. 

The  surge  and  beat  of  the  sea, 

The  mournful  and  endless  dole, — 

They  swell  with  a  thousand  questionings 
And  overflow  my  soul. 


[44] 


LOVE'S  WAYFARING 

DO  you  remember,  love  — 
How  long  ago  it  seems  — 
When  by  the  pebbled  cove, 

Our  sweet,  fair  dreams 
Took  wing? 

Alas,  how  long  it  is  — 

What  wasted  years  between ; 

What  untouched  hours  of  bliss ; 
And  unlived  dream  — 

Time's  sting ! 

Were  not  the  high  tides  sweet ! 

The  sails  upon  the  stream  — 
The  billows'  bounding  beat, 

The  sea-gull's  scream 
And  swing. 

What  murmuring  music  rose 

From  zephyr's  low-tuned  chords. 

To  which  in  love's  repose 
Our  hearts  made  words 

To  sing. 


[45] 


Ah,  sweet,  where  is  Love  gone? 

To  what  bourne,  east  or  west, 
Shall  you  and  I  alone 

Bide  his  behest 
Wand'ring  ? 


[46] 


SHE  SLEEPS  BENEATH  THE  WINTER  SNOW 

SHE  sleeps  beneath  the  winter  snow 
In  Cedar's  wintry  vale; 
The  winter  stars  above  her  shine, 

The  pines  about  her  wail, 
And  icy  winds  do  chill  and  blow. 
My  Ciceline,  my  Ciceline, 

Sleeps  deep  and  low 
Beneath  the  snow. 

I  sit  beside  my  fire  bright 

And  watch  the  embers  glow, 
And  yet  to-night  so  dark  and  chill 

She  sleeps  beneath  the  snow. 
And  though  the  place  be  hid  from  sight, 
My  dreams  its  gloomy  darkness  fill  — 

With  Ciceline's  my  heart  is  low 

Beneath  the  winter  snow. 


[47] 


LYRIC:   WHEN  THE  STILL  SOMBRE 
EVENING  CLOSES  DOWN 

WHEN  the  still,  sombre  evening  closes  down 
Amid  the  autumn  preludes  of  the  wood, 
I  feel  my  soul  take  on  its  dreamy  mood 
'Midst  nature's  gold  and  brown. 

The  dear  old  dreams  of  June  —  blue-bird  and 

rose 

Have  sunk  into  these  sadder  phantasies, 
And  once  again  old  buried  memories 

Wake  from  their  long  repose. 

Ah,  when  I  look  on  Hesper  clear  and  bright, 
The  thought  of  one  dear  autumn,  sad  and  cool, 
Transports  me  to  a  bygone  forest  pool 

One  long  gone  autumn  night. 

Now  that  my  vision  brightens,  memory  brings 
That  forest  opening  —  sere  leaves,  the  sheen 
Of  moonlight  which  soft  stole  the  leaves  be- 
tween 

In  their  down  flutterings. 


[48] 


How  solemn  was  the  scene  —  that  solitude! 
Those  fulgent  woods  our  holy  marriage  house 
Where  Zephyrus  sang  his  choral  through  the 
boughs 

To  bless  us  where  we  stood. 

Ah,  memory !  dear  con j  urer  of  tears ! 
Bring  vividly  the  vision  of  that  night, 
When  our  two  hearts  pledged  by  kind  nature's 
rite 

A  union  through  the  years. 


[49] 


CHILD  ELSIE 

FOR  love  of  the  sea,  Child  Elsie, 
Untethered  the  dory's  rope, 
To  ride  with  native  impulse 
The  water's  rise  and  slope. 

For  love  of  the  seaman's  maiden, 
The  mew-tides  running  down, 

Swept  out  to  sea  the  dory 
Afar  from  the  fishing  town. 


[50] 


A  SEA-PRAYER 

LORD  of  wind  and  water 
Where  the  ships  go  down 
Reaching  to  the  sunrise, 
Lifting  like  a  crown, 

Out  of  the  deep-hidden 
Wells  of  night  and  day  — 
Mind  the  great  sea-farers 
On  the  open  way. 

When  the  last  lights  darken 
On  the  far  coastline, 
Wave  and  port  and  peril 
Sea-Lord  —  all  are  thine. 


[51] 


IT  WERE  AS  IF  THIS  WORLD  WERE 
PARADISE 

IT  were  as  if  this  world  were  Paradise, 
That  little  hour  when  by  the  dancing  sea 
I  told  thee  of  the  love  I  had  for  thee. 
There  seemed  a  newer  glory  in  the  skies 
When  thou  didst  look  with  pitying  sweet  eyes 
Upon  me  when  I  pleaded.  I  felt  that  we 
Did  balance  in  some  mystic  harmony 
Of  old  rose-gardens  and  low  ocean  sighs. 
The  sunshine  stole  some  glory  from  your  hair: 
The  sea,  the  magic  of  your  eyes  of  blue  — 
The  grace  of  all  your  nature  soft  and  fair 
Fill'd  all  the  world  until  an  Eden  grew; 
You  were  a  gracious  Eve  beside  me  there, 
And  all  the  world  was  Paradise  with  you. 


[52] 


YULE-SONG:   A  MEMORY 

DECEMBER  comes,  snows  come, 
Comes  the  wintry  weather; 
Faces  from  away  come  — 
Hearts  must  be  together. 

Down  the  stair-steps  of  the  hours 
Yule  leaps  the  hills  and  towers  — 
Fill  the  bowl  and  hang  the  holly, 
Let  the  times  be  jolly. 

Day  comes,  and  night  comes 
And  the  guests  assemble  — 
Once  again  the  old  dream  comes 
That  I  would  dissemble. 

Falls  a  shadow  'cross  the  floor, 
Seen!  —  and  is  seen  no  more. 
O  that  memory  would  forego 
The  hanging  of  the  Mistletoe. 


[53] 


VOICE  OF  THE  SEA 

VOICE  of  the  sea  that  calls  to  me, 
Heart  of  the  woods  my  own  heart  loves, 
I  am  part  of  your  mystery  — 

Moved  by  the  soul  your  own  soul  moves. 

Dream  of  the  stars  in  the  night-sea's  dome, 
Somewhere  in  your  infinite  space 

After  the  years  I  will  come  home, 

Back  to  your  halls  to  claim  my  place. 


[54] 


APRIL'S  DREAM 

rTIHE   stream's  breath  tastes  of  the  wood's 
JL  perfume, 

Filled  are  the  woods  with  foam: 
And  the  sea  like  a  sheet  'neath  the  summer  noon, 

With  the  languorous  swerve  runs  home. 
The  beat  of  a  pulse  the  warm  sun  stirs 

In  the  air,  the  sea  and  stream, 
Beckons  the  heart  —  and  the  soul  allures 

Forth,  into  April's  dream. 


[55] 


ON  MUSIC 

I    CANNOT    tell    how    high    my    soul    takes 
wing, 

Nor  to  what  depths  in  liquid  sweets  it  sinks — 
Yet  well  I  know  it  suffers  from  thy  sting, 

As  one  who  of  Cyceon  mixture  drinks. 
And  I  can  feel  a  rose-stream  thro'  me  creep, 
Curving  about  my  senses,  as  they  leap, 
And  swell  and  rise  and  fall, 
As  blossoms  ambrosial 

Shook    from    some    full  blown   orange-tree  in 
spring, 

Sink  wav'ring  to  the  ground 
And  bound 
Unto  the  zephyr's  piping,  in  dizzy,  dizzy  ring ! 


[56] 


SONG 

OVER  the  long,  the  wide  dark  seas, 
Wandering,  goes  my  dream, 
Borne  on  winnowings  of  the  breeze 

High  as  the  heavens  seem. 
And  O,  dear  love,  where  the  waters  foam 

Further  than  pulsing  star, 
Wandering  still  my  old  dreams  roam 
Far  from  the  shore  —  yea  far! 


[57] 


A  LYRIC  OF  AUTUMN 

THERE   is  music  in  the  meadows,   in  the 
air  — 

Autumn  is  here; 

Skies  are  gray,  but  hearts  are  mellow, 
Leaves  are  crimson,  brown,  and  yellow; 

Pines  are  soughing,  birches  stir, 
And  the  Gipsy  trail  is  fresh  beneath  the  fir. 

There  is  rhythm  in  the  woods,  and  in  the  fields, 

Nature  yields : 

And  the  harvest  voices  crying, 
Blend  with  Autumn  zephyrs  sighing; 

Tone  and  color,  frost  and  fire, 
Wings  the  nocturne  Nature  plays  upon  her  lyre. 


[58] 


MOTHERHOOD 

WITH  what  angelic  countenance 
She  wonders  as  she  sits  alone, 
With  tender  fear,  and  musing  glance 

Because  a  life  is  in  her  own. 
Ah!  if  a  woman  should  be  loved 

'T  is  when  she  hears  the  silent  voice, 
'T  is  when  an  unknown  life  has  moved 

Her  soul  to  fear  and  to  rejoice. 
'T  is  when  amidst  life's  blithesome  scenes, 

A  something  speaks  she  cannot  hear, 
And  quells  her  spirit  till  it  dreams 

The  sacred  thing  she  is  to  bear. 
Ah!  what  is  needed  most  to  bless 

The  weary  waiting  of  the  time ! 
Love's  duty  rendered  tireless 

To  cheer  her  holy  state  sublime ; 
A  tender  presence  that  would  teach 

Her  more  than  laws  of  science  could ; 
That,  life  belongs  to  each  and  each, 

To  Fatherhood  and  Motherhood! 


[59] 


TO  W.  A.  W.  AND  H.  H. 

on  their  Departure  to  Europe 
/^1OOD-BYE,  and  may  your  journey  be 
vJ     Through   nights   with   pleasant   stars 

above, 
And  may  your  days  upon  the  sea 

Your  souls  with  wonder  fill  and  move. 
By  night  the  lyric-light  of  stars, 
By  day  the  pulsing  tidal  wars. 

And  may  you  safely  reach  the  port 

Where  sweet  the  old-world  dreams  repose 

In  garden,  vale,  and  palace-court, 
Where  long  ago  the  sounds  arose 

Of  feudal  strife  —  and  song  took  wing  — 

When  men  were  brave,  and  Love  was  King. 

And  when  you  shall  have  made  your  stay 

Through  summer-moons  that  filled  and  waned, 

May  westward  autumn  lead  your  way 
Untroubled,  till  your  home  is  gained. 

So  may  propitious  fortune  keep 

And  bring  you  safely  o'er  the  deep. 


[60] 


THANKSGIVING 

MY  heart  gives  thanks  for  many  things; 
For  strength  to  labor  day  by  day, 
For  sleep  that  comes  when  darkness  wings 

With  evening  up  the  eastern  way. 
I  give  deep  thanks  that  I'm  at  peace 

With  kith  and  kin  and  neighbors,  too  — 
Dear  Lord,  for  all  last  year's  increase, 
That  helped  me  strive  and  hope  and  do. 

My  heart  gives  thanks  for  many  things; 

I  know  not  how  to  name  them  all. 
My  soul  is  free  from  frets  and  stings, 

My  mind  from  creed  and  doctrine's  thrall, 
For  sun  and  stars,  for  flowers  and  streams, 

For  work  and  hope  and  rest  and  play  — 
For  empty  moments  given  to  dreams, 

For  these  my  heart  gives  thanks  to-day. 


[61] 


LIFE  AND  DEATH 

I   RENTED  once  a  house  of  clay, 
An  object  beautiful  to  see  — 
I  lighted  it  with  pleasant  thoughts 
And  Life  'twas  named  by  Mystery. 

And  when  long  years  therein  I  lived 
I  moved  into  a  fairer  clime, 

And  then  my  house  was  named  anew  — 
For  it  was  christened  Death,  by  Time. 


[63] 


HOLLY  BERRY  AND  MISTLETOE 

THE  trees  are  bare,  wild  flies  the  snow, 
Hearths  are  glowing,  hearts  are  merry- 
High  in  the  air  is  the  Mistletoe, 
Over  the  door  is  the  Holly  Berry. 

Never  have  care  how  the  winds  may  blow, 
Never  confess  the  revel  grows  weary — 

Yule  is  the  time  of  the  Mistletoe, 
Yule  is  the  time  of  the  Holly  Berry. 


[63] 


WHEN  I  BID  YOU  GOOD-BYE  AND  GO 

WHEN  I  bid  you  good-bye  and  go 
I  do  not  want  your  tears  to  flow, 
For  I  have  filled  so  small  a  part 
In  your  great  heart. 

And  I  shall  sleep  below  and  dream 
You  have  been  good  to  let  it  seem 
I  lived  in  all  your  heart  —  your  life 
Without  one  strife. 

It  cost  so  little  —  so,  be  kind 
To  keep  a  portion  in  your  mind 
Of  me  —  remembering  that  I  gave 
Up  to  the  grave. 


HEART-SONG 

DEAR   heart,  what  tho'   I  press   the  need- 
less  throng 

While  high  the  stars  shine  in  their  blue  re- 
treat, 

If  so,  I  unto  thee  with  heart  of  song 
Wend  thro'  the  street. 

Dear  heart,  what  tho'  my  song's  inaudible 
Unto  this   ceaseless,   surging,   heartless 

throng  — 

Far  from  the  crowd  wilt  thou  not  hear  it  well 
All  the  night  long? 


[65] 


BY  AN  INLAND  LAKE 

LONG  drawn,  the  cool,  green  shadows 
Steal  o'er  the  lake's  warm  breast, 
And  the  ancient  silence  follows 
The  burning  sun  to  rest. 

The  calm  of  a  thousand  summers, 
And  dreams  of  countless  Junes, 

Return  when  the  lake-wind  murmurs 
Thro'  golden,  August  noons. 


[66] 


SONG 

I    WE  NT   down   the  ways   of  the   roses   this 
noon, 

The  birds  were  in  tune  with  the  infinite  skies, 
And  all  my  heart  sang,  "  It  is  June,  it  is  June," 
And  all  my  soul  teemed  with  the  lovely  sur- 
prise, 
As  I  went  down  the  ways  of  the  roses  this  noon. 

And    into    my    garden    the    shades    bade    them 

come, 
The  wayfaring  dreams   that   came   forth   of 

the  sun : 
"  Come,  rest,"  said  the  roses,  "  ere  further  ye 

roam ; " 
"  Be  my  guests,"  said  my  heart,  "  till  the  day 

it  be  done," 
As  into  my  garden  the  shades  bade  them  come. 

O   long   the   dreams   tarried   within   that   sweet 

place, 

And  unto  my  heart  and  the  roses  they  told, 

How  on  their  long  travel  they  met  with  a  face 

All    clouded   with   hair    of   the    sun's    fairest 

gold  — 

And  my  heart  and  the  roses  sighed  in  the  sweet 
place. 

[67] 


SONG:   TO-NIGHT  THE  STARS  ARE 
WOOING,  LOVE 

TO-NIGHT  the  stars  are  wooing,  love, 
The  moon  is  full  of  languishment ; 
Low  in  the  eastern  firmament 
Little,  the  golden  waves  above  — 

My  dreams  are  wand' ring  pensive- wise 
Unto  the  bourne  of  echo-sighs 
Beneath  the  stars,  within  the  grove. 

To-night  the  rose-leaves  fell  apart, 

And  at  their  core  the  sweet  dews  dwell, 
While  dreams  of  echo  in  the  shell 

Conjures  the  crimson-scented  heart. 
So,  love,  thy  sweet  influence  steals 
Upon  me,  and  my  spirit  heals, 

And  dreams  what  loveliness  thou  art. 


[68] 


TO-NIGHT  ACROSS  THE  SEA 

TO-NIGHT  I  sent  a  dream  across  the  sea, 
Beyond  the  bourne  where  sky  and  water 

meet; 

Its  ghost  came  back  in  mournful  melody 
Of  waters  at  my  feet. 

The  dream  gone  out,  its  ghost  abides  with  me, 

A  visitant  of  sorrow  in  my  heart ; 
And  ever  clings  thereto  the  mystery 
The  mournful  seas  impart. 


[69] 


A  MEMORY 

MY  heart  to  thee  an  answer  makes, 
O   long,   slow  whisper   of   the   sea, 
Whose  charm  of  mournful  music  wakes 
A  dream,  a  memory. 

Touched  hands,  met  lips,  and  soft  fair  speech 
Soul's  silence  to  the  past  replies, 

When  love  and  hope  illumined  each, 
Within  a  girl's  blue  eyes. 


[70] 


AFTER  HARVEST 

FAINT  is  the  speech  of  the  tired  heart 
To  the  call  of  dreams  replying, 
When  hope  wends  home  across  the  fields 
Where  the  rose  o'  the  year  is  dying. 

O  weary  head  and  heart  and  hands 
Look  up  where  the  sun  is  dying  — 

Love  leads  you  home  across  the  fields 
To  the  call  of  dreams  replying. 


[71] 


IT'S  A  LONG  WAY 

IT'S   a  long  way  the   sea-winds   blow 
Over  the  sea-plains  blue,— 
But  longer  far  has  my  heart  to  go 
Before  its   dreams   come  true. 

It's  work  we  must,  and  love  we  must, 

And  do  the  best  we  may, 
And  take  the  hope  of  dreams  in  trust 

To  keep  us  day  by  day. 

It's  a  long  way  the  sea-winds  blow  — 
But  somewhere  lies  a  shore  — 

Thus  down  the  tide  of  Time  shall  flow 
My  dreams  f orevermore. 


[72] 


I  BLOW  YOU  A  KISS 

I   BLOW  you  a  kiss  on  the  evening  wind 
My  dear,  wherever  you  be; 
Up  in  the  north  or  down  in  the  south, 
Or  over  the  rolling  sea. 

I  blow  you  a  kiss,  but  after  the  kiss 
Do  you  know  what  follows,  my  dear? 

Something  the  wind  cannot  bring  to  you  — 
Only  a  little  tear. 


[73] 


SEA  VOICES 

O'ER  the  wintry  sea, 
Mingled  with  its  tone 
Comes  a  voice  to  me, 

That's  not  the  sea's  own. 

Low  and  soft  it  is, 

Near  and  far  away  — 

Sad  as  winds  that  kiss 
The  sea  beyond  the  bay. 

Soulless,  restless,  swell, 
O  what  radiant  guest, 

Sad,  invisible, 

Hovers  o'er  thy  breast? 

Gray  rocks  and  gray  sea, 
Stretch  of  barren  shore, 

Grief  and  memory 
Claim  me  evermore. 


[74] 


TO 


HALF  in  the  dim  light  from  the  hall 
I  saw  your  fingers  rise  and  fall 
Along  the  pale,  dusk-shadowed  keys, 
And  heard  your  subtle  melodies. 

The  magic  of  your  mastery  leant 
Your  soul  unto  the  instrument ; 
Strange-wise,  its  spell  of  power  seemed 
To  voice  the  visions  that  you  dreamed. 

The  music  gave  my  soul  such  wings 
As  bore  me  through  the  shadowings 
Of  mortal  bondage ;  flight  on  flight 
I  circled  dreams'  supremest  height. 

Above  were  tender  twilight  skies, 

Where  stars  were  dreams  and  memories  — 

The  long  forgotten  raptures  of 

My  youth's  dead  fires  of  hope  and  love. 


[75] 


IN  MY  LADY'S  PRAISE 

GOD  wrought  you  flesh  and  hair  and  eyes 
From  some  immortal  loom  and  dyes ; 
For  thou  art  filled  with  every  rare 
And  precious  thing  of  earth,  sky,  air. 
The  magical  blue  of  warm  June  skies 
Gleams   in  your  calm   and  sultry   eyes ; 
The  unguent  of  the  fragrant  fields 
No  sweeter,  subtler  perfume  yields 
Than  the  aroma  of  your  breath, 
Delicate  fragrance  attarred  'neath 
The  sculptured,  firm,  white  beauty  of 
Your  throat,  arched  stately  there  above 
The  undulation  of  your  breast 
That  heaves  with  love's  divine  unrest. 


[76] 


NEAR  THE  END  OF  APRIL 

NEAR  the  end  of  April, 
On  the  verge  of  May  — 
And  O  my  heart,  the  woods  were  dusk 
At  the  close  of  day. 

Half  a  word  was  spoken 

Out  of  half  a  dream, 
And  God  looked  in  my  soul  and  saw 

A  dawn  rise  and  gleam. 

Near  the  end  of  April 

Twenty  Mays  have  met, 
And  half  a  word  and  half  a  dream 

Remember  and  forget. 


[77] 


HYMN  FOR  THE  SLAIN  IN  BATTLE 

LORD,  God  of  all  in  Life  and  Death, 
The  winter's  storm,  the  summer's  breath, 
Of  fragrant  bloom,  —  whose  Mighty  hand 
Decrees  the  pow'r  of  sea  and  land, 
Hear,  Lord,  this  prayer  for  those  who  are 
Slain  in  the  hour  of  thund'rous  war. 
Have  mercy,  Lord,  on  those  who  fall 
Rent  by  the  iron-splintered  ball. 
Reck  not  their  cause  was  right  or  wrong, 
'Twas  Duty  led  them  blind  and  strong. 
They  shaped  not  what  to  war  gave  rise  — 
They  make  the  greatest  sacrifice. 


[78] 


A  SUMMER  NIGHT'S  ENCHANTMENT 

THE   perfume  of  the  garden  blows 
Fill'd  full  with  scent  of  musk  and  rose; 
The  little  bay  beneath  us  here 
Is   like   a  woman's   jeweled  hair, 
Studded  with  sparkling  shafts  of  light 
Reflected    from   the    diamond' d   height. 
And  somewhere  in  the  grove  is  heard 
The  passion  of  some  love-lorn  bird; 
And  }7ou,  my  dear,  beside  me  here 
With  joy  around  us  everywhere. 


[79] 


IN  THE  HIGH  HILLS 

HEIGHT  overhead  to  the  deeps 
Where  the  gleaming  day-star  peeps 
From  the  bosom  of  the  dawn 
In  God's  infinite  blue  lawn. 

The  wings  of  the  winds  are  whirled 
Over  the  face  of  the  world  — 
And  the   echo  of  them  fills 
The  everlasting  hills. 


[80] 


PS  3-56  3 


W04- 


